Wars Guradian Angel
by Nanoprint76
Summary: She knew more about him than anyone because shes always been watching him. Just a little thing that popped into my head about Krieg and Angel First Fanfic please review
1. First Glance

I know what they did to him. I read the reports. Listened to the ECHO logs and watched what they did to him. I knew what he was like before they made him into the psycho he is now.

He was a kind man, a good man even if his actions now say otherwise. He was the kind of man who did what was right even if he lived on a world that had madness running through its very core.

He had a women who was very special to him, a women that he loved with all his being. They had life together even if was hard and tiring but it was a life they enjoyed because they had each other.

Then the day came when Hyperion came for them, sold out by a man that they had called friend. Beaten and chained they were dragged off to a Hyperion Research Facility to become more victims of the Eridium experiments being conducted there.

Hyperion tortured them. Slowly killing them with their slag experiments. Injecting them, cutting them, and slowly pouring it down their throats.

The experiments were changing him on so many levels. He became stronger, healed faster, but his mind began to break.

He slowly forgot himself in the pain as it became his life. She wept as she slowly lost him to monster they were making him into. She did all she could to keep what was left of him, the good that was left in him.

She died as they injected her with liquid Eridium and he watched strapped to the cold operating table. He listened to her screams and with her final breath she told him to run.

He watched as she drew her last breath and then he started to struggle violently in his restraints as he tried to break free. The doctor's tried to sedate him but the needle got caught in his eye blinding him. His blood seem to give him strength as it seeped out the blinded eye.

In a kind of blood rage he broke free from his restraints and tore the pump off that was pumping slag into his left arm and then set to work on the scientist that had stolen his life. He tore them apart fueled by his rage and he laughed as they begged for mercy.

When he finished with scientist, his hands still slick with gore he walked over to her body and gently closed her open eyes. "Goodbye Enid", he whispered as he looked at her still form.

He stood there for a long time looking at the still form. He was startled out of the long silence as the alarms began to sound and he began his escape. He turned his strength that Hyperion had given him against them. He killed anyone that got his way, the injuries that were inflicted on him as he made his escape healed faster than med-hypo would allow.

Once he escaped the research facility he ran and ran and I lost him to Pandora.


	2. He's back and he mad

I found him again a year after his escape from the facility. He was wandering near a bandit camp near New Haven a couple months before Jacks take it over. Some of the bandit clan members had ECHO Devices so I was able to see through them.

He looked stronger than last time, more muscular as if had been training. He was shirtless, he was still wearing the orange pants from the research facility and he wore leather tags around his neck, how he got them I have no idea. His left arm was bandaged where he ripped off the Eridium pump and on his right looked to be clad in a scrap metal gauntlet. He carried a buzz axe in his hands, three times the standard size of a normal one and it looked like it was made with one purpose in mind, dealing as much carnage as possible with each swing. But the thing that caught my attention was that he now wore a psycho mask. It was white on the outside but in the center was an orange color with a gas mask design to it all with a patch covering his blinded eye.

He caught sight of the marauder I was seeing through and moved towards him in a dead sprint. The marauder panicked seeing such a large man running towards him buzz axe raised over his head with no regard for his own life while shouting about something made of meat. The marauders panicked shots missed him completely. He closed the distance between him and the marauder quickly the marauder let out a scream that was cut short as his axe cleaved the marauders head cutting off my feed.

I jumped to another feed as another marauder came out of his tent to see what the scream was about. I saw him rip his axe out of the dead marauders head he looked around as other members of bandit camp came out. "**YOU'LL ALL BE PART OF MY MEAT BICYCLE NOW GET IN LINE!**" he yelled as he waded into them

He hacked and slashed. He killed and killed as he screamed and yelled about meat bicycles, and nipple salads even as the bandits around filled his body with bullets. He laughed at the pain they inflicted on him as if he loved it, he probably did knowing the experiments Hyperion conducted on were a huge success.

The last bandit left in the camp was the one I was seeing through. The marauder unloaded his magazine into him. He stood there and took it, he stood still and the marauder began to laugh weakly as he thought he had finally dropped the massive juggernaut

Then he began to laugh, loud and maniacal

"**Hahahaha! It hurts! IT HURTS! AHAHAHAHAHA**!"

He ran towards the marauder as tried to reload his gun. The marauder looked up and dropped his gun to raise his hands up in a last ditch effort to save himself. My feed was cut off as he buried his axe into the marauders head and I lost him again.

I couldn't help but wonder what he did during the year I lost track of him. What could have happened to make him so unhinged?

Then I remembered that she was only thing keeping him from becoming the monster Hyperion tried to engineer him to be. Now that she was gone nothing there was nothing left to keep him together.

I hoped that there was still something left of him in the thing that calls himself the mayor of Meatville. There had to be, she died believing that there was something worth saving.

I have to believe otherwise what would be the point watching him


	3. Stalking and Schemeing

**Forgot to mention I don't own these characters Gearbox does**

* * *

I kept a more vigilant eye out for him. Looking into any reports or communications about a large psycho. It paid off a couple of months later as I narrowed down his location around T- Bone Junction. I took command of a Hyperion drone to scout around the area, they wouldn't miss it there were millions of these things.

It was evening when I found him. He was sitting under an overpass of the abandoned highway sharpening his buzz axe by fire light.

His head twitched every now and again with unrestrained energy and it sounded like he was grumbling to himself. Then he suddenly yelled," **SHUT UP!**" and slammed the blunt end of his axe head into his face.

I was shocked to say the least. Psychos wouldn't normally hurt themselves, run head first into a hail bullets sure but never hurt themselves by their own hands.

I began to wonder if this was just a onetime thing of his broken psychosis or a repeating behavior. "**YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME, THIS IS MY BACON NOW!**" he yelled to no one and hit himself again.

So this is a repeated behavior, he hears voices in his mind! The question is do the voices urge him to kill everything in site or hold him back.

"Angel... Angel!

Jack was calling for me! I quickly set the drone to track and record him while I attended to whatever Jack needed.

"Yes sir, is there something you need."

"Yes, now that I have successfully kicked the bandit scum out of New Haven. I believe it's time to move my bandit extermination initiative to the rest of Pandora."

Jack said it like killing thousands of people was the most normal thing in the galaxy. It made me sick.

"How do you plan to accomplish that Jack? Hyperion does have a lot of resources yes but we can't dig for the Vault while waging a planet wide invasion."

"Hmm, you do have a point there, do you have suggestions?", Jack said while pouring himself of glass of rare Eden-Five brandy.

I thought for a moment. "Why not use the Vault as bait and let them come to you." I suggested.

Jack smiled at my idea. "That's great! Let those idiots come to me and get themselves killed! Oh and while I'm at it I'll send out 'special' invitations to those that might cause me trouble in the long run." He took a sip of his brandy smiling at his own addition to the plan.

"Spread the word Angel! Hyperion's looking for Vault Hunters and is willing to pay big for their services in helping find the Vault." Jack Smiled evilly. "Little do those idiots know the only thing they'll be getting is a big ass hole in the head."

I did as Jack instructed spreading news that the Hyperion Corporation are looking for individuals to help find the Vault and that they would receive a portion of the loot found within if they helped. I hated myself for doing this, sending people to their deaths through lies and deceit but what choice did I have Jack was the one keeping alive, using me to charge the Vault Key.

Servitude was better than death right?


	4. Soon to Be New Friends and Break Through

**I don't claim any rights to Borderlands but that doesn't stop from loving the hell out it**

* * *

After I set up the Jacks kill plan I began research into individuals that would pose the greatest threat to him. Five people caught my attention.

An ex-commando named Axton. He was kicked out of the Dhal military for ah, excessive behavior and is now working as a bounty hunter on Pandora

A Siren named Maya is heading to Pandora now. She left her home planet of Athetas after finding out The Oder of Impending Storm was using her status as a Siren to extort money from the planet and killing the head priest.

An assassin named Zer0 was on the planet apparently looking for a challenge. I don't know what brought him to Pandora but it looks like he has a special interest in the Vault.

A native Pandoran by the name of Salvador also has interest in the Vault. He seems to want to experience the dangers of vault hunting and not the Vault itself.

A young girl named Gaige is also heading to Pandora. Fleeing from Eden-Five authorities for the creation of illegal technology and after listening to her Echo casts also manslaughter.

I collected data on these individuals for Jacks 'special' list. I set the collected data aside to show Jack later and pulled the drones recording of him.

When morning came he headed out and away from T-Bone Junction. He came across a spiderant nest and they started to attack him to defend their nest. Then he did another shocking thing, he started to breathe fire.

He set the entire nest ablaze while killing the all spinderants. Once all the spiderants were dead he reached inside the nest and pulled out some eggs and started eating them. I was slightly disgusted that he would even put in his mouth let alone swallow it.

The drone moved to a position facing him and I caught site of the lower half of his face. There were scars, some so deep that they warped the flesh around it.

Hyperion didn't inflict most of those on him that much I know. I wonder again what he did during the year I lost track of him. Did he fight? Did bandits do this to him?

When he finished he started moving again. According to the drones GPS position at the time he was heading towards a settlement. He walked at a leisurely pace, tossing his axe into the air and catching it while occasionally spouting deranged nonsense.

He arrived at the town around midafternoon but it was being attacked by bandits. He seem to grow excited from all the death and charged into the fray.

"**ENEMIES OF MY MEAT YOUR DEATH WILL BE MY REWARD FOR YOU ARE DEADLY SINNER AGAINST MY BACON!**" he yelled as he decapitated a psycho and turning to cleave a marauder from shoulder to hip. He killed the other bandits in like fashion until a Badass Psycho came out.

All of his attention snapped to the Badass and growled, "**I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A BADASS IS**." He and the Badass ran at each other and hacked and slashed at each other when they met.

The Badass got too many solid hits on him and he dropped to one knee. I thought this was the end of him as the Badass raise his spiked club to finish him.

Then he started to chuckle and said, "**BOOM TIME!**" and stood back up with sticks of dynamite in his hands. He tossed a stick at the Badass and it exploded in his face distracting him.

He moved toward the Badass and shoved a whole bundle down the front of Badass's pants and moved back to watch the show. The Badass recovered in time to look at the bulge in his pants before the lower half of his body exploded.

He laughed manically and said, "**THAT'S A BAD FRIEND TOUCH.**" He heard a female scream and spun around to see a marauder pull a women out of her home by her hair.

The marauder was too distracted trying to get a hostage that he didn't notice a giant buzz axe sailing toward him. The axe struck the marauder in the chest so hard it sent him flying back and away from the women.

The women looked at him with fear as he walked over to pull out his axe from the dead marauders chest.

He turned to face the cowering women with buzz axe in hand. I thought he was going to kill her as his grip tightened on his axe and prove that he was just another psycho that would eventually be put down.

He raised his axe and brought down on her head. It stopped only inches from her head and help there.

Then his axe ricocheted back and struck him in the face so hard he stumbled back.

I and the women were dumbstruck by what we just witnessed.

It was obvious that the women didn't have a shield so there was only one explanation. Something from within had stopped him.

There was something more in him than his broken mind. She had succeeded, she had saved a piece of him and now it was keeping the deranged mind from killing innocent people.

"**RRRH! YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME FOREVER LITTLE MAN THIS IS MY MEAT SACK NOW!**" he yelled to himself. So the voice in his head keeps him in line.

A man came out of a house and pointed a trembling gun at him. "G-get out here monster we want no more trouble here!" he said a little shakily.

He growled and took a step towards the man stopped. He stood there a moment then gave an angry huff and turned to leave the town mumbling to himself.

The man kept his gun trained on him and the women followed with hers as he left the town he had basically saved. He walked into the desert well into the night and found a place to sleep under natural rock lean two.

Those were the events that transpired during the day I was gathering information on the future Vault Hunters. As I closed the recording my mind went to the event were he tried to kill that women.

Something in him had made him stop from killing that women and something had stopped him from killing that man with the gun. Someone was holding back a killer that would gladly kill anyone in site no matter innocent or guilty.

This voice in his head he calls Little Man has to be what left of the man he was. He is not like the other psychos that roam Pandora not matter how much a part of him wants to be.

* * *

**I made reference to song I liked from the game Brutal Legends.**


	5. His Plan and Her Plan

_**I don't own the characters of Borderlands GearBox does**_

* * *

I showed Jack the data of the individuals that caught my attention. He looked at the data for a long time and he seemed to be planning something else than just killing them.

"Angel, is everything in place?"

"Yes, Jack, Hyperion is offering Maya information on Sirens; the prospect of danger, loot, and a challenge were enough for Axton, Salvador and Zer0; and we have offered Gaige a safe haven within our corporation if she agrees to work for us. All that is left to do is send out the invitations."

"Hmm."

"What is it Jack?"

"Those Crimson Raiders idiots are becoming a bit more trouble than I thought they would be."

"Yes, after they acquired a city wide shield the moon shoots have become all but ineffective. But I did notice that they have to replace the shield power source every couple of months."

"Aha! I've got it I'll use those idiots on the 'special' list to help me get rid of Roland and his city full bandit scum."

"How do you plan to use them Jack?"

"Angel my girl revenge is a great motivator, I'll just kill them a little bit and they'll want to take me out for it when they survive."

"How will they know to find their way to the Crimson Raiders?"

"By dusting off an old plan of mine. You will guide them just like those four ass hats before. Follow them and give advice here and there to push them along."

"But how do you intend to take down the shield Jack."

"Simple I'll just pound the city with moon shots until they need to replace the shield core again and I'll leak Intel that we'll be transporting the Vault Key. But it won't be the Key it'll be Wilhelm with a core that will give you access to the cities shields and bring them down and Sanctuary will be no more!"

"But what about Wilhelm Jack?"

"I'm sure he's willing to make the sacrifice."

"And the Siren, Maya?"

"Capture her if possible but if she dies no harm done. Now get to it Angel."

"Yes sir."

I sent the invitations offering a complimentary train ride to their destination. No doubt they will accept the train ride seeing as their destination is rather far from their current locations.

After the invitations were sent I pulled up the drones live feed of him. It's late in the morning and he was on the move.

Some skags attacked him but he dealt with them easily enough. He continued to move and kill and my thoughts wandered to why I was still watching him.

I got my answers about him so why was I still watching. Is it to see what he will do, to see him do finally break and become a true psycho or something else?

Do I have feeling for him? Well he does grabs my curiosity like that time he strangled that scientist and I feel obligated to watch him seeing as I was a witness to his creation.

But then again what do I know of love. The only man who loved me locked me up in a glorified prison and he uses me to further his own goals.

I wouldn't know love if it hit me like a buzz axe to the face. So what exactly do I feel for this broken man turned monster?

I continued to observe him while making sure the Vault Hunters made it to the train stations. I noticed that he only ever killed bandits, men who had done wrong but never any innocent people.

He killed men that deserve to die. A monster that only eats the dammed I thought.

It was this thought that gave me the answer as to why I'm still watching him. I watched him because I admired him.

Hyperion had broken him down and rebuilt him as a killing machine. But even with all the experiments and the torture he was still at his core the good man that he was.

He fought what they made him into even if he didn't know it. He refused to be what they wanted him to be.

I admired the fact that he was in way still his own man even after everything that he was put through. He still had piece that he could call his own no matter how little it was.

What did I have that I could call my own? Everything was provided for me by Jack and now because of the Vault Key so was my life.

But there was still one thing that could mine. The one thing the Vault Hunters could help me with and it would be mine.

I took a final look at the live feed of him. He was settling in for the night in abandoned town.

I wanted to thank him not that I could. He didn't have an ECHO.

* * *

_**Sorry it took so long my life was acting up.**_


	6. Meet the Siren

I don't own Borderlands

* * *

Jacks plan was underway as most of the Vault Hunters were on the train except one. Maya will be the last to board the train.

I decided to check on him seeing as the train was on time. He sat on a rock that wasn't too far from the abandoned town that he slept in.

He was quiet as he tapped his axe against the rock he was sitting on. I wonder what was going through his mind during his more quiet moments.

Did he think about killing people? Does he try and remember who he was before?

As my thoughts wandered on the subject my live feed was suddenly cut. The only way a live feed was cut when I was in control is that the drone had to be destroyed.

I spotted an ECHO signal near were the drone was destroyed and I hacked into his feed. It showed a Vladof rifle being lowered as a shower of sparks rained down from the air not too far off.

"Dame why is Hyperion here." he said as he continued to walk. "Well I hope they don't get to that blue beauty before I do." and have gave a dark little chuckle.

Apparently he has a passing interest in Maya and not the kind that she would fancy. "Man this place is a dump." he says as he passes through the town.

He looks up at a hanged man just outside of town. "Heh. Better you than me bud."

Then there sounds of running steps. He turns around just in time to see him flying towards him axe raised.

"**I HAVE THE SHINIEST MEAT BICYCLE!**" was the last thing I hear before the ECHO feed goes dead.

I thought about sending another drone to find him but decided against it. He gave me courage when I needed it most and he wouldn't miss me not that he even knew of me and maybe it was best that I leave him alone.

After an hour I decided to check on Maya to see that she was on her way.

She was almost at the rail station steadily making her there. She stood on the platform waiting for the train and checking her Maliwan shock smg.

Then there was a thud noise that caught her attention as the train pulled in. Maya looked to were the train came from and saw him getting up to his feet.

I was surprise to see him. I mean what were the odds of him finding his way to the train depot Maya is at?

When he saw Maya he just stood there starring at her. Maya couldn't quite make him out but she knew he was wearing a variation of the infamous psycho mask that were trade marked by the lunatics that wear them.

"What the hell, is that a psycho?" she asked mostly to herself. Then after bit more of him starring at Maya he yelled, **"I'M TH CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!**" And raised his axe into the air.

I stifled a laugh that threatens to escape from me. The shear randomness of his statement was enough to make me almost keel over.

Apparently Maya didn't take it as well as I did seeing as she jumped from the platform and started shooting at him. Most likely she thought he was just another common psycho.

He scrambled for cover as the bullets flew at him and took refuge behind a large boulder. I became worried that Maya might actually kill him as she stop to reload. He peeked his head out and yelled, "**STRIP THE FLESH!**" and raised his axe into the air.

I thought he was crazy for aggravating Maya anymore as she started to fire at him once more when her gun was reloaded but then again he was already crazy. He peeked his head out again and yelled, **"SALT THE WOUND!"** and his axe into the air again.

He ducked back down again as Maya began to fire at him again. I was trying to make sense of his words when he suddenly stood firm on his cover and yelled,"**Hnn! TURN AROUND PRETTY LADY!**" and threw his axe at her.

I thought it was just another one of his psychotic rants. All my admiration for him began to die as his axe sailed end over end towards the Siren.

I began to think that he had finally lost his mind, that the conscious that kept him in line had lost his fight with the psychotic counterpart. I started to believe that my plan would fail as doubt crept into my mind.

I watched as the axe flew towards her buzzing as it made its way to her. Maya was too stunned to move out of the way and I expected the feed to be cut any moment.

The axe flew past her and hit something behind her with load wet thud. Maya turned around to look at Rat as the oscillating blade of the buzz axe climbed vertically up the rats face.

Then he jumped on the Rats shoulders and pulled his axe out while jumping off and started to kill the other Rats while laughing manically. They had snuck up on Maya while all her attention was focused on him.

I realized something as he raised his axe and shouted at a Rat about butting his pain into the Rats soul, making the Rat faint. He was trying to warn her.

He probably saw the Rats while Maya was shooting at him. He had been trying to warn her of the danger that was approaching from behind.

More than likely he wasn't enough to get the proper words out to warn her and not psychotic taunts. My admiration grew knowing that he had saved the life of another rather than just taking them.

Maya saw a Rat sneaking up on him as he was turning away from the fainted Rat. She used her phase ability to lock the Rat in midair as it jumped towards him, sharpened nails moving for the kill.

He looked at the suspended rat with surprise and shifted his gaze toward Maya, there was a hint of gratitude in his eye. He returned his attention to the Rat, took a step back and jumped while raising his axe and brought down on the Rat, embedding it deep into the body.

Maya watched as he pulled his axe out of the Rat. He turned to face her and looked at her for a couple of moments.

Then he shouted, "**I POWDER MY COCKATIAL FOR THE RIBCAGE SLAOUGHER!**" and pointed to Maya. She took half a step back but she didn't seem to be put off by it.

He looked a bit disappointed in the beginning when Maya took a step back but then brightened a bit, maybe she smiled at him.

Then the announcement gave a warning that the train would be departing soon. Maya looked up as the speakers blared their message then back towards him.

She looked at the open door of the train then back towards him. Her gaze lingered on him as if deciding something. Maya took one more glance at the open train car and then said while turning to him, "Hey, wanna come along." Indicating to the door with her head.

Surprise was evident in his eye and stood there for a moment and gave a small nod. "Well then come on." she said motioning for him to come. He followed her into the train cart oddly quiet for a man who usually spouts deranged dribble.

Once they entered the train began to move and so did Jacks plan and mine was well. I thought about why Maya helped him back at the depot.

Maybe she just paying him back for saving her and she did the same in return to him. But that still leaves the question as to why she invited him along with her.

Did she see the same things that I saw in him or was she just being nice? He was obviously a psycho so why take the chance?

Question after question kept popping up but I suppose it doesn't matter. It would be nice to see him with my own eyes when they come for me.

* * *

My life was acting up again but i'm alraedy in the middle of the next chapter


	7. Vault Hunters, Assemble

I said i would make it up to you guys

* * *

When he and Maya entered the train he was instantly met with suspicion. "Psycho!" Axton called out and raised his rifle while everyone else tightened their grip on their weapons except for Maya who stepped in front of Axton's rifle blocking his shot.

"Stop. He doesn't mean any harm." Maya said while placing a calming hand on his arm when she saw him tighten his grip on his axe. I was surprise he let her touch him and I half expected him to rip her arm off in a panicked defense mechanism kind of way.

He looked at Mayas hand placed on his arm and lowered his guard a little but still ready. "How do you know that?" Axton said unconvinced seeing as he fought more than his fair share of the masked raving lunatics as a bounty hunter.

"He could turn on you any second and on the rest of us and I'm not willing to take that chance." Axton said while eyeing him and lowering his rifle a bit. "But he's different, I know it because he saved my life." Maya said defending him.

"She could have tamed him, I've seen it before. The Nomads would keep them like pets." Salvador spoke up from where he sat. "He's not a pet!" Maya said with anger flaring in her voice.

"Hey, all I'm saying is that of you've got a hold on him then he's no harm unless you want him to be. I'm on your side here." Salvador said raising his hands a little. "Then how about putting it to a vote whether he can stay or not." Gaige piped up from her seat. Axton a bit surprised on the suggestion they vote to keep a psycho.

"Look this isn't-" "All in favor of him joining us raise your hands" Gaige said interrupting Axton and raising her own hand. Maya and Salvador also raised their hands.

Axton looked exasperated and turned to Zer0. "Come on you've gotta back me up here." Axton said to Zer0 trying to get at least one vote.

"She has a hold/His fiery at her command/ Broken he maybe" Zer0 responded in haiku.

Axton groaned in frustration seeing Zer0 was on their side and took his seat folding his arms over his chest in a huff. "Ha! Four to one! Big guy stays!" says Gaige jumping up from her seat and pumping a fist.

Maya turned to him smiling. "So got a name?" she asked.

His eye looked down and crinkled in concentration. Was he going to give his name?

Not that mattered his previous name mattered any more. Hyperion stripped it from him when they made him.

"**KrrieeEG**." he said slowly with a hint of a growl. "Krieg? Is that your name" Maya asked. He nodded.

Krieg. An old Earth word, German, meaning war I believe. It suited him in many ways. To the voice battling inside his mind to his actions.

"Well hello then Krieg my name is Maya obviously a Siren." she indicates to her strange blue tattoos while introducing herself.

"I'm Gaige, a genius inventor." she said walking up and offering a hand to Krieg. He looked at it for a moment and took her small hand in his large one and shook it.

I knew it probably took all his self-control not to crush her hand in his. His eye then fell on Gaige's prosthetic arm.

"**HUUUUGHHHH! A FLESHLESS MEAT STICK.**" Krieg said pointing at her prosthetic in wonder. "Oh, this?" Gaige said raising her metallic arm.

"Yeah. I kinda had an accident making my killer Badass robot and long story short I cut off my arm replaced it with this bad boy." Gaige explained with pride while waving off Krieg's stares at her arm. She then point with her flesh hand and said, "Short stuff over there is Salvador." "Hey!" said Salvador at the indignation at being called short.

"Tall, dark and solemn is Zer0." Gaige said introducing him. He just sat there, his helmet giving nothing away of what was underneath.

"And sour puss over there is Axton." he turned his head away at his introduction still sour about being out voted. But Axton perked up a bit when Maya took a seat next to him.

Gauge dragged Krieg over and sat down with Salvador and did their best to chat with him. Krieg would blurt out his psychotic nonsense which the two of them laughed off but he occasionally make enough sense for them to understand.

Krieg's gaze kept wandering over to Maya as she chatted with the Commando. Hmm. Dose my intuition sense something?

As the train sped along Gaige and Krieg were enamored in an intense game of rock, paper, and scissors while Salvador kept score. The Psycho seemed to get along with the genius youth maybe because they say there's a fine line between genius and madness.

Mayas laughter caught Krieg's attention and he looked over at the laughing Siren and a smiling Axton. "Ha! Paper beats rock. Boom!" Gaige said victoriously.

Krieg's attention snapped back to the game and looked down. His hand was clenched into a tight fist.

Huh. Krieg seems to have more than just a passing interest in the Siren. Jealous much.

"Alright amigos you're both tied next win is the champ." Salvador informed them.

"Hear that big guy? In the next round I'll be galactic champion while you'll be runner up." Gaige said smugly.

Krieg growled. "**Your meaty paper may have suffocated my fleshy rock. BUT IT WILL BE I WHO DANCES IN THE SWEET MEATS OF VICTORY!**" he declared.

Apparently Krieg thought he was going to get meat when he won, huh.

"Ooooh. Well somebodies confident but do yay gats what it takes to back it or are you just full of hot air." Gaige taunted while raising her hand for the final round.

Krieg did the same and let out another growl. They both swung their hands down. Once. Twice. Sho-

Hyperion Loaders unfolded as next stage in Jacks plan was initiated. The Vault Hunters reacted quickly when the Loaders began firing.

Zer0 slipped up to the roof through a hatch in the ceiling.

Salvador open up the side of the train and moved along the outside of the train.

Axton back peddled while avoiding being shot and through his turret onto the ceiling and pulled out his Maliwan rocket launcher while his turret unloaded on the Loaders. "Yeah! Eat em' darling" he said encouraging his turret and fires his launcher.

Looks like he didn't leave everything behind when he left Dhal

Maya shielded her eyes as Axton's rocket destroyed one of the Loaders and she Phaselocked the remaining Loader. "Hold still." she said calmly and threw it through the side of the train with her powers.

Siren powers always conveniently useful.

Salvador cried out as a Loader crashed out from the side of the train almost making him lose his grip but help firm and jumped back into the train through the hole Maya made. When he was inside he digistructed two Vladof assault rifles and mowed down Loader and Hyperion Engineers alike all while laughing maniacally, "Hahahaha! Take it cabrons!"

Hmmm? Does he ever run out of bullets?

Gaige pulled out a Jacobs's shotgun started blasting Engineers and Loaders, she couldn't summon her robot because the train cart was too cramped but that didn't mean she couldn't handle herself. "Smash the system!" she said as a bullet grazed her cheek.

Anarchy forever huh Gaige

Krieg bulled a Loaded over and crushed its eye core under his boot before it could get up, then he looked up and saw a bunch of Engineers heading his way. I could imagine him smiling under his mask at doing what he did best with fleshy things and charged them axe raised over his head. "**EVERYTHING THAT KILLS ME MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE!**" he says as he carves into them.

Have fun big guy.

Zer0 was making his way to the lead cart when two Engineers came up. As the Engineers made thier to him one of them threw a bionic punch but it went through him. The Engineers were perplexed, then Zer0 appeared behind them and before they could react he stabbed the rear Engineer in the with is sword and used the hilt as a vaulting point to flip over them both and kick the front Engineer in midair as he was turning around was stabbed by the protruding point of Zer0s sword stuck in the rear Engineer. The kick propelled Zer0 back and rolled back up where his decoy stood. "No challenge." he says simply.

Someone's a badass.

The group killed their way to the lead cart were they thought Jack was. As they gathered at the door they readied their weapons.

Axton bashed the door in with is shoulder and everyone rushed in weapons ready. They were all surprised by what they saw, crates of explosives were all over the train cart. In the middle it all was chair with Handsome Jack seated with his back to them.

The chair turned slowly to reveal a Jack dummy. "I know y'all think you're the heroes of this little adventure, buuut you not. Welcome to Pandora kiddos!"

They all noticed a timer on the dummy, it had five seconds left on the clock. "RUN" Krieg shouted.

They all ran but they didn't get very far before the explosives went off. The train was wreaked in the Wind Shear Wastes.

Jacks plan is moving along but mine was only just beginning. Now to play my part to guide and lure them.

I just hope there are enough of them alive.

* * *

Thank you One Republic for my reference


	8. Into the Swing of Things

I didn't know if any of them were alive or not. I just waited until ECHO signals began to appear were the train was wreaked.

I quickly hacked into their feeds and saw what they saw. All of them were there except Krieg.

"Wait where's Krieg?" Maya says looking around. "Maybe he didn't make it. Not everyone's lucky." Axton said shivering from the cold.

Could he have finally died? After all he went through and all he's survived he's killed by an exploding train?

No, he's gone through too much to be killed by accident.

"We should at least look for him." Maya argues through chattering teeth. "No go chica, as much as I like the guy we won't survive out here with a blizzard moving in." Salvador says while vigorously rubbing his arms to keep warm.

"I hate the idea of leaving Krieg out there too Maya but Salvador's right." Gaige said reluctantly. Maya looked down with restraint visible in her body language and finally said, "Fine. Let's go." and walked over to the Claptrap unit.

"Great!" said the Claptrap unit in a cheery tone "Now that you're done debating whether or not to look for your more than likely dead friend we can get out of this storm. I can't take down Handsome Jack if you're all dead. Now come come friend's lets you somewhere warm." Claptrap motioned the Vault Hinter to follow.

They hadn't taken more than a few steps before they heard metal groaning behind them. They all turned around in time to see a wall of debris from the train fall down revealing Krieg.

I knew he'd be alright.

Krieg trudged over to the surprised Vault Hunters. "Umm. Krieg are you alright?" Maya asked when she saw he was looking down.

"**My murder stick**." Krieg replied a little solemn.

"Your what?" Maya asked perplexed and shivering a little from the cold.

Krieg lifted up his axe. "Ooooh." Realization dawning on her.

His favorite killing tool was in ruins, the blade dented and warped out of shape as well as most of metal bits the only thing that looked fine was the wooden handle.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll be able to fix it." Maya reassured Krieg. He just nodded his head.

"Oh your friends not dead. Here I still have one more ECHO device." Claptrap said holding out the ECHO. Krieg took it and started activating it.

Suddenly he dropped it. "**NononoNO! SHUT UP**!" he yelled as he clutched his head.

"Krieg?" Maya asked placing a concerned hand on his shoulder with a worried look. He calmed down and looked at her then looked away.

"Having trouble?" Maya asked without hitting the nail on the head.

"**Ugh. Hands still slick from the sweet mist**." Krieg answered

Obvious lie but why? Maybe he just wanted to keep something's to himself.

Maya picked up the ECHO Device and activated it. "Here." She says as she hands it to Krieg and gives a reassuring smile. He takes it, looks at it for a moment then clips it on.

"Great Krieg's back. Now can we get going? We're freezing our asses off here." Axton complained.

They all followed Claptrap to an igloo made of ice and junk as Claptrap talked on about getting revenge on Jack and belly buttons. As they neared Claptraps place I spoke to them.

"I'll explain everything soon, but know this – you're alive for a reason, and I … am here to help you."

They all stopped and looked at each other.

"Did you guys see that?" Gaige said tapping her ECHO in hopes of getting me to speak again.

"Yeah, heard it too." Salvador said inspecting his.

"**ANOTHER ONE**?!" Krieg complained.

Looks like he thought I was another voice in his head.

"What do think it is?" Maya asked

"Look can talk about this later it's really cold." Axton says as he continues on.

As they reached the steps of Claptraps place he turned to them. "Well done! Your ability to walk short distance without dying will be Handsome Jacks down fall." It congratulated them.

Highly unlikely though.

As they entered Claptrap talked about the local Bullymongs ripping eyes out, Jacks body dumping in the Wastes and about being depressed. "Now, the creatures around here are dangerous, none other than this Bullymong named Knuckle Dragger – killed everyone I know. Anywho, I keep a couple of pistols in the cabinet over there for emergencies, but in here we should be pretty safe." Claptrap informed them near the fire.

But no sooner had Claptrap finished talking they all heard a roar and a giant Bullymong with blue skin and white fur came down from the hole in ceiling. "Ah my eye!" Claptrap screamed as the Bullymong grabbed it and ripped its eye out then dropped Claptrap and escaped through the same hole

"Ok how come nobody bothered to mention the big ass hole in the ceiling?" Gaige asked as she walked over to Claptrap who was bumping into things. "It is obvious/the hole for all to see up/enemy to come" Zer0 replied as the others just shrugged their shoulders.

"The guns…the guns in the cabinet." Claptrap pointed out weakly. "Alright let's go kill us a Bullymong!" Gaige said enthusiastically walking over to the gun cabinet.

"Wait!" Maya said stopping Gaige.

"What's the matter?" Gaige asked a bit perplexed.

"We can't go fight in our condition, not after what we just survived." Maya pointed out.

One of you could.

"She's right amigo we need rest. We'll get head start in the morning." Salvador said.

Gaige gave a little huff. "Fine." She mumbled.

"Sorry Claptrap we're too banged up right now, we'll look for your eye tomorrow, I promise." Maya assured Claptrap.

"It's alright, I mean aside from the excruciating pain I'll be fine." Claptrap said with a more cheery tone and settled in a corner

"I guess that means where settling in for the night then. Alright let's see we can scrounge up around here." Axton said as he opened the gun cabinet.

There were an assortment of second hand Dahl pistols and there were enough for everyone. Axton tried to hand one to Krieg but he just looked at it, making no move to take it.

"Look I know you think you're tough and all but you can't survive out there bare handed." Axton said and indicated for Krieg to take the gun. Krieg looked Axton in the face and then his eye glazed over for a moment then snapped back to attention.

He looked back down and took the pistol. "**The blood poppers can never compare to the meat sleeves**." Krieg said inspecting the gun in his hand. "Whatever you say big guy." Axton said as he started to rifling through some crates.

The rest spread out through Claptraps place to look for supplies. They found med-hypos, ammo, and some cash which they divided up evenly even to Krieg who couldn't tell the difference.

After they thoroughly looted the place they settled in for the night. I noticed that Krieg looked relatively unharmed aside from a few singe marks on his pants and his wrappings around his arm.

He sat near fire trying to fix his axe with scraps he found. All the rest were nursing injuries no matter how small.

Looks like he can't rampage for a while

Gaige was tinkering with her mechanical arm and cursed when it sparked. She shook her flesh fingers while eyeing the mechanics in the arm while sitting on the frozen coach.

No Deathtrap to watch her back

Axton sat at the poker table trying to fix his storage deck unit. He gave a frustrated huff as he gave up for now.

The missis is out of town

Zer0 sat on one of the bunks trying to mend a tear in his stealth suite. He gave a sigh as he put away the repair kit doing what he could for now.

Not so stealthy ninja

Salvador groaned in pain as he rotated his shoulder. He massaged it with his hand trying to fix what was wrong.

Akimbo not a while longer

Maya set up some cans and tried to Phaselock them but it didn't work. She gave a frustrated growl and sat down cross legged and began meditating hoping that it give her answers why her powers weren't working.

To be honest I have no idea why her powers aren't working either. It reminds me of time Lilith's powers stopped working for a bit when she started hunting for the first Vault along with the others.

After some hours they started settling in for sleep.

Gaige curled up on the couch.

Axton, Salvador, and Zer0 cleared off the bunks and settled into them.

Krieg laid down on his side facing the fire. Maya laid down next to him her back facing his.

He turned his head to regard her back for a moment then turned back staring into the fire.

"Hey. About what happened… with the ECHO, what did you mean… by another one?" Maya asked timidly.

Krieg didn't answer for long while, I thought he ignored the question but then-

"**What kinds voices do you hear when you're alone**?"

"I… condescending and full of shit." Mayas supposed father figure, the former head of The Order of the Impending Storm.

Krieg chuckles slightly as her answer. "What about you? What do you hear?" She asks turning to him and propping herself up on one arm.

"**A dead man's redemption**." He answers after a while.

"Is he the one that told you to save me?"

"**No**."

"Oh" a little surprised

"**Mine too**."

"Oh" a little more surprised. "Well, thanks, both of you."

Krieg soft grunt and starting softly snoring. Maya gave a slight smile and laid back down went to sleep too.

Looks like they're growing closer in awkward kind of way. I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Maya. Getting to know him personally while I only knew him by watching him.

The plan is going smoothly in morning they will head out to get Claptraps eye and head to Liars Burge. There Hammerlock will point them to the Crimson Raiders.

Once everyone was up they headed out to get Claptraps eye back, a task not too hard in itself if it wasn't in the hands of a Bullymong.

"Alright everyone ready." Axton asked. Everyone agreed

As they were heading out I spoke to them again.

"Once upon a time four Vault Hunters changed Pandora forever. But their time has passed – thanks to Handsome Jack, Pandora needs new heroes. I know those heroes are all of you."

Everyone stopped and considered my words.

"I don't know about being a hero, I'm here for the Vault" Axton said.

"But we could help people Axton and besides don't you want to get back at Jack for trying to kill us?" Gaige asks.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want my ass handed to me by an entire corporate army. I don't want my tomb stone saying 'Here lies Axton, he tried, too bad'."

Gaige turned to the rest of the group. "What about you guys?" she asks.

"Hyperion offered me information on Sirens I'm sure I can look for it by sifting through the ruble." Maya says with a dark little grin.

"I just want to kill bad guys, I'm sure Hyperion has no shortage of them." Salvador answers with a smirk.

"Jack, an enemy/an army to hone my skills/A worthy challenge" Zer0 said with a thumbs up emoticon projecting from his helmet.

Gaige turned to Krieg. "And you?" she asks.

He didn't say anything as he looked down and his eye darted around the floor. It was as if he was searching for something.

Then he looked up and his gaze for the briefest of moments looked over at Maya.

"**I WANT A FIST FULL OF LUNG FLOWERS AND BREATH IN THE BLOOD AND GORE**." Krieg said darkly with s little glee in it.

Gaige smiled, translating it for yes I'm staying foe the fight. "Alright let's go get Claptraps eye back and it can lead us to the resistance where Axton can directions to the Vault." Gaige said heading for the door.

"You're all ready to go? Great! I've been waiting for mighty Vault Hunter to help me reach Sanctuary! I will be your wise leader, and all you shall be my fearsome minions!" Claptrap said as he tried to find the door and laughed manically.

Everybody pretty much rolled their eyes at it.

As they headed out Claptrap informed them that they would most likely find its eye in Frostbite Crevasse. And I informed them to stick with the robot because it could help them get off the glacier and get to Sanctuary.

As they neared an open area smaller Bullymong began to attack the group while Claptrap cowered and let them do the work. Collectively everyone opened fire while Krieg took a more… hands one approach.

He fired at them as he rushed them to get in close. Once he was close enough he beat a few to death with his gauntleted fist while laughing manically while the group fired away.

Krieg stood over his last kill breathing heavily, coming down from his blood haze. A larger Bullymong burst through the ice barrier blocking their path and everyone shot it full of holes.

Once everything within the vicinity was dead Claptrap said, "Let's go! If we don't get my eye back, we'll never get to Sanctuary!" and proceeded down the tunnel until a tremor rock the ground.

Claptrap complained that Jack was tearing Pandora about to find the Vault and then a joke then tried to make it into a joke about their mother, which wasn't funny. But Claptrap was right though Jack was tearing the planet apart to find the Vault and he's close.

I emphasized that they had to get to Sanctuary, the only place where they would be safe while Claptrap fell head first off a cliff into a larger area. As the Vault Hunters came in after Claptrap Bullymongs started coming in.

Fighting ensued as bullets and blood flew.

"Damn, these things vicious." Axton commented as Krieg was beating the last one to death.

"Hey, is anyone planning one digging me out!" Claptrap asked half buried in the snow.

"We better go dig him out." Maya sighed walking over to Claptrap.

Gaige and Krieg helped Maya dig out Claptrap while the others kept an eye out.

"Angel, bring up a visual." Jack asked.

"Ugh, Yes Jack." I quickly brought up visual on the Vault Hunters.

"Who's the slab of meat?" Jack frowned as he looked at the group.

"Salvador?" let try playing Koi.

"No! The big one." Jack point to Krieg. So much for Koi.

"Uhm, one moment sir." I quickly compiled data on Krieg from his time before.

"Subject 633112 of the mutant solder initiative, he escaped some time ago. The initiative was shut down due the lack of success, pliability and… a tendency to turn the subject insane. The company has placed a bounty on him. He was formally known as-"

"Uppuppup. That enough Angle, I don't need to whole back story. Besides I want see how this plays out. Patch me into their frequencies." Jack smiled amusingly.

I quickly patched him in.

"Hey, kiddos. Jack here – President of Hyperion. Lemme explain how things work here: Vault Hunter shows up. Vault Hunter looks for the new Vault. Vault Hunter gets killed. By me. Seeing the problem here? You're all still alive. So, if you could just do me a favor and off yourselves that'd be great. Thanks pumpkin." Jack ended the link and laughed to himself as the Vault Hunters stiffened then quickly replace by rage.

"That ought to motivate them." Jack smiled and left to oversee some other business leaving me to watch them.

"You know I never heard Jack talk before. But just that one thing makes me think he's a complete douche." Axton said with a grimace and rest group agreed

I cracked a smile. I couldn't agree more

Once Claptrap was dug out they moved to a circular area that had a Hyperion drop barge frozen into the cliff face and Bullymong nests.

"Oh! My eye just switched back on! I see tough looking minions and an incredibly handsome robot. Which means that whoever has my eye…" fear creeping into Claptraps voice "is very close"

The Bullymong from before, which their ECHO's marked as KnuckleDragger, climbed over the barge roared and tossed a car down. Salvador and Zer0 dove out of the way as the car exploded.

KnuckleDragger dropped down and the fighting began. The Vault Hunters let go a barrage of bullets at it.

More Bullymong started dropping in from the wall and Claptrap said something about schincters. The group divided their attention between the KnucklDragger and the smaller Bullymong.

After a lot bullets later the smaller Bullymong were dead and KnuckleDragger began limping. Krieg came in from the left while Zer0 came in from the right while the others covered them.

Krieg punched KnuckleDragger in the face while Zer0 took out one of its arms with his digiblade. KnuckleDragger slumped to the side breathing heavily.

Zero casually walked over and shot in the head.

"Acceptable." Zer0 said bowing his head slightly at the corpse

"**THE HEXAPEDES CANNOT STOP THIS MEAT TRAIN**!" Krieg said pumping his fist into the air.

"Yeah, yeah you guys are officially badass's. Now help find the eye." Gaige said walking over to the corpse. They quickly found the eye wrapped around the late KnuckleDraggers neck.

Gaige grabbed it and walked over to Claptrap. She pulled her prosthetic arm back about to jam into Claptrap when-

"As much as you want to jam your fist my skull optic surgery is best left to professionals – my pal Hammerlock in Liar's Berg can fix me up! Allons-y!" Claptrap said heading to the barge. Gaige shrugged and followed.

"Liars Berg's on the other side of this Hyperion barge. What say we cut through it, chum?" Claptrap said walking over to the scanner "Ha! This door's Hyperion tech – child's play! Aaaaaand OPEN" the barge began to scan Claptrap.

"Intruder detected. Locking door." An automated voice said and the barge locked down.

Everyone groaned and looked at Claptrap with disdain.

"Well, it was nice knowing ya! I hear getting eaten alive by Bullymongs isn't such a bad to go." Claptrap said turning to them.

I smirked "Let me set that for you." And activated my abilities "Executing phase shift." The barge unlocked, as expected. The group stared. I smiled at their awe of my abilities.

"Damn I had my doubts but damn that's useful." Axton said.

"Hmm? Useful" Zer0 said simply.

"**NIPPLE SALADS**!" Krieg yelled. I'll take that as a thanks

"Huh? I wished you were around when I was running." Said Gaige

Salvador and Maya just nodded

"You're welcome! Perks of being and Artificial Intelligence. I'm networked into almost everything on this planet." Half-truth. "It's a long way to Sanctuary – please take whatever you need for the journey ahead" they walked in started gathering the supplies within.

There were Jackobs shotguns within, enough for everyone and they were passed around.

"Finally! Some real fire power!" Salvador said cheerily while inspecting the gun.

Everyone else agreed.

"Lemme know when you want to head to Liar's Berg minions." Claptrap said indicating to the door.

"Alright everyone ready!" Axton called out.

"Yeah"

"Yup"

"Uhuh"

"Yes"

"**MEAT**"

"I'll take that as a yes. Alright let's go." Axton said moving to the door followed by the others. He pressed a button and the door opened and the group headed to Liar's Berg.

The group killed well together. They are stronger than Jack thinks, it's why I chose them. They will play their roles and I will play mine. I will be free, free from all of this.

At least he's ok and enjoying himself. It's nice to know that irony can bit back.

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long I wanted to make the chapters longer so guys have more to chew on. Also no references in this one**


End file.
